Japan’s rice stockpile has reached its lowest level this century, with tourism and poor crop yields cited as the main causes.

In June, private-sector rice inventories dropped to 1.56 million tons, a 20% decrease from the previous year and the lowest level since 1999, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. This significant decline is attributed to the high temperatures that affected crops in 2023 and increased demand from inbound tourists. Last year, Japan experienced its hottest September since records began 125 years ago.

“The chief reasons behind the record-low inventory are a decline in production due to high temperatures combined with water shortages, and the relatively low prices of rice compared to other crops such as wheat,” said Hiroshi Itakura, a farm ministry official, to Agence France-Presse. “The increase in demand by foreign tourists has also contributed,” he added, noting that “we are not in a situation of facing shortages of rice.”

The trading price for rice has soared to a 30-year high, with wholesalers running low on stock and some supermarkets raising prices and limiting purchases. This situation is expected to persist until September, when the new harvest becomes available.

As Japanese diets become more westernized, the demand for rice has fallen. The country’s demographic crisis has also discouraged younger people from becoming rice farmers, resulting in an aging farmer population and abandoned rice paddies returning to nature. However, demand for rice rose to 7 million tons between June 2023 and last month, a 100,000-ton increase from the previous year and the first rise in a decade. During the same period, the number of foreign tourists more than doubled compared to the previous year. Japan welcomed 17.78 million tourists in the first half of 2024, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

Assuming that foreign tourists consumed two meals with rice a day, the ministry estimated their demand for rice at 51,000 tons, up 2.7 times from the previous year.

Despite the price pressure, there are no plans to use the government’s stockpile of 910,000 tons, created after a bad harvest in 1993 led to critical rice shortages, according to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

Published Date: July 31, 2024